Thursday, August 10, 2017

For 1-percenters, this plane includes a private chef and a wine cellar

Afternoon tea served in the private dining room, a cashmere throw for your creamy leather flatbed seat, wine tastings with the private chef and cooked-to-order eggs delivered by your sky butler.Even for those lucky fliers who regularly sit in First Class, amenities aboard the new Crystal Skye charter 777 hit the fantasy level.The new aircraft, showcased Wednesday in Miami, is part of the Crystal Cruises luxury fleet of ocean cruise ships, river cruising vessels and private charters flights.Crystal originally planned to offer organized trips via the custom-outfitted plane but switched to charters at the request of customers, said Crystal CEO Edie Rodriguez. Three bookings have been finalized, including one with the National Hockey League and one with a couple celebrating an anniversary. Another dozen are in process, she said.The plane holds up to 88 guests and can fly up 18 hours without refueling. Costs depend on the length of flight, fuel requirements and destination landing fees, said Rodriguez. The general ballpark: $55,000 per hour.For a New York-to-Paris flight, the price would be about $475,000 — or about $5,400 per person. A one-way first-class ticket on in September for that same route costs more than $8,730 on American.But not every charter customer fills every seat, said Rodriguez. The anniversary couple have invited a total of 58.The staff includes three pilots, the chef, a mixologist and a sommelier.Among Crystal Skye’s special touches: Bose headsets; Etro bathroom amenities; 25-inch seat-back screens; unlimited wireless, phone calls and live TV; iPads; meals created by the private chef and wines from the extensive cellar. Tables in the tea room / lounge flip over to reveal electronic gaming tablets.Good news: Guests get to keep the jammies and slippers.Story and photo gallery ➤ http://www.miamiherald.com